About Me

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Review: Faster Pastor by Sharyn McCrumb and Adam Edwards

Sharyn McCrumb teamed up with NASCAR/ARCA driver Adam Edwards to write this third book in her NASCAR series. Now don't let that keep you from reading Faster Pastor if you aren't a car racing fan. This is just a very funny book with a cast of quirky, sometimes hilarious characters that will keep you chuckling from first page to last. Car racing fans will find plenty to love in it too, but that part is sort of secondary to the story.

It begins with Cameron Berkley, nicknamed Camber, literally landing in the midst of a grave-side service for Jimmy Powell who had been a NASCAR fan and memorabilia collector. Camber, by the way, is a term which is a "factor in a car's steering and suspension." Anyway, Camber is thrown in the local pokey with a slight concussion, and when he learns about Powell's collection, he muses that it is probably worth at least $2 million. The village of Judas Grove is all atwitter. The town's name is yet another funny story.

The judge, taking all this into consideration, sentences Camber to a fine and two weeks' confinement in jail but, wearing an electronic ankle device, to spend those two weeks teaching the local clergy how to drive a race car. The judge's daughter, a very serious college educated young woman, is assigned to be Camber's minder. At the end of the two weeks, there will be a race and the fastest pastor will win the proceeds from the sale of the collection. Got it?

Now, think about the clergy in your own area. Quite an assortment of people, eh? All shapes and sizes. Now put them into a race car; chuckling yet? This is definitely a character-driven story, and admittedly I used to be an auto racing fan (not any more though), but I loved this book. It took me right out of my hazy, hot, humid summer doldrums and made me laugh out loud.